Haj draws 1.8 million pilgrims, falls short of record

MECCA, Saudi Arabia – The

annual haj pilgrimage

in 2023 has drawn more than 1.8 million worshippers, Saudi Arabia’s statistics authority said on Tuesday, a long way short of a record despite predictions of peak attendance.

The data showed most of the faithful came from abroad.

The kingdom’s officials had predicted 2023’s rituals, one of the world’s largest religious gatherings, would draw more than 2.5 million pilgrims, making it the largest to date.

But official figures carried by the state-run Al Ekhbariya TV showed they were still short of the 2.5 million worshippers who took part in 2019.

“The total number of pilgrims for this haj season... is 1,845,045 male and female pilgrims,” the Saudi statistics authority said, according to Al Ekhbariya.

They included more than 184,000 from within the kingdom, according to the Saudi Ministry of Haj and Umrah.

More than 875,000 women took part, compared to almost 970,000 men, the ministry said.

Figures for 2023 still mark a dramatic increase on the 926,000 from 2022, when numbers were capped at one million following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Only 10,000 were allowed in 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, rising to nearly 59,000 a year later.

The haj is among the five pillars of Islam and must be undertaken by all Muslims with the means at least once in their lives.

The haj in 2023 is the largest since the Saudi authorities scrapped a requirement for women to be accompanied by a male guardian in 2021. AFP